Share this:

Jesse Sapolu played 15 years for the 49ers (1983-97) and in that time the stalwart center and guard won four Super Bowls and went to two Pro Bowls. However, what no one knew during his highly-decorated career was that Sapolu survived two-a-days in the heat of central California with the heart of an 80-year-old man.

Jesse Sapolu has a big heart

Sapolu, now one of the team’s alumni coordinators, recently appeared on KNBR to divulge a secret he held for his entire career. Sapolu played with a torn aortic heart valve that left him dangerously short of breath at times. Because of his condition, he also played with an enlarged heart that required two surgeries, including one during his playing days.
While growing up in Western Samoa at age 4, Sapolu contracted rheumatic fever and the disease ripped a small hole in his heart valve.
Since the valve failed to close properly, Sapolu’s heart worked harder. The walls of his heart eventually grew larger, causing shortness of breath. “I would feel like I was drowning at times,” Sapolu said.
In the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, school officials banned Sapolu from P.E.
“I was 6-2, 240 pounds as a seventh grader,” Sapolu said after watching the 49ers’ Friday practice. “Imagine this seventh grader sitting next to the teachers (during recess) and all the kids say, ‘You are big for nothing.’ It left an impact on me emotionally. If they let me play, I would never ever complain under any circumstances.”
Sapolu finally was allowed to play and later attended Farmington High in Hawaii, where he became the team captain. He attended the University of Hawaii where they monitored his condition. He was eventually drafted by Bill Walsh in the 11th round of the 1983 draft. Sapolu kept his heart problem a secret from the 49ers, but they found out during a physical.
The team monitored his heart every year. Sapolu went to Stanford for tests to assess the size and function of his heart.
On the field, he learned to take quick short breaths during times of exertion. Again, he felt like he was drowning, particularly as his career advanced and the valve started to deteriorate. But they were letting him play, so Sapolu kept the vow he made as a kid – he never complained.
“It was all a mental fear for me from the emotional impact I had as a youngster,” Sapolu said. “I wasn’t going to tell anybody about it.”
At times Sapolu admitted he was scared, particularly in training camp. “When we were conditioning I was afraid, because I couldn’t take a deep breath all the way through,” he said. “I learned to take shorter breaths just to survive.”
Sapolu’s heart would often race between practices and he would pray for his heart to calm down before he would get to the next practice.
Entering his 14th year, Sapolu didn’t perform well on his Stanford electrocardiogram. The doctor said he had the heart of an 80-year-old and marveled how he could walk up a flight of stairs without sitting down, much less play professional football.
That year, Sapolu’s valve was replaced by a valve from a cadaver and he played his final season. Recently, after 14 and a half years from his last surgery, Sapolu had that valve replaced by a plastic one that should last for 35 years.
Sapolu exposes his fears and his personal life in a upcoming book called “I gave my heart to San Francisco,” which is due out in October. Sapolu’s thoughts on the 49ers, Jim Harbaugh and his heart condition are covered in this interview with Rod Brooks and me. Scroll down to the Sapolu interview and have a listen.